Arthur Power

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Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1889–1960)

title: "Arthur Power" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["royal-navy-admirals-of-the-fleet", "royal-navy-admirals-of-world-war-ii", "royal-navy-officers-of-world-war-i", "commanders-of-the-order-of-polonia-restituta", "commanders-of-the-legion-of-merit", "knights-of-the-order-of-st-john", "knights-grand-cross-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "knights-grand-cross-of-the-order-of-the-bath", "commanders-of-the-royal-victorian-order", "knights-grand-cross-of-the-order-of-orange-nassau", "1889-births", "1960-deaths", "academics-of-the-royal-college-of-defence-studies", "lords-of-the-admiralty", "admiralty-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "military-personnel-from-london"] description: "Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1889–1960)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Power" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1889–1960) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

FieldValue
honorific_prefixAdmiral of the Fleet
nameSir Arthur Power
honorific_suffix
imageRear Admiral Arthur J Power on board HMS Cleopatra, 5 Nov 1942 IWM A 13495 (cropped).jpg
captionPower in 1942
birth_nameArthur John Power
birth_date
death_date
birth_placeLondon, England
death_placeRoyal Naval Hospital, Haslar
allegianceUnited Kingdom
branch
serviceyears1904–1953
rankAdmiral of the Fleet
commands
battles
awards
laterwork
::

| honorific_prefix = Admiral of the Fleet | name = Sir Arthur Power | honorific_suffix = | image = Rear Admiral Arthur J Power on board HMS Cleopatra, 5 Nov 1942 IWM A 13495 (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = Power in 1942 | birth_name = Arthur John Power | birth_date = | death_date = | birth_place = London, England | death_place = Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar | placeofburial = | nickname = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = | serviceyears = 1904–1953 | rank = Admiral of the Fleet | servicenumber = | unit = | commands = | battles = | awards = | spouse = | relations = | laterwork = Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur John Power (12 April 1889 – 28 January 1960) was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the First World War as a gunnery officer and saw action in the Dardanelles campaign. During the inter-war years he commanded the gunnery school at and then the aircraft carrier . During the Second World War he played a leading role in the planning for the Allied invasion of Sicily and for the Allied invasion of Italy and then commanded the naval forces for the actual landing of V Corps at Taranto in Italy in September 1943. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Fleet in the closing stages of the war and conducted naval strikes on the Imperial Japanese Army in Borneo and Malaya. After the War he became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.

Naval career

Early career

Born the son of Edward John Power and Harriet Maud Power (née Windeler), Power joined the training ship HMS Britannia as a cadet in 1904 and, having won the King's medal as best cadet of his year, he was promoted to midshipman on 15 September 1905. He was promoted to acting sub-lieutenant on 15 January 1909 and to lieutenant on 15 April 1910 on his appointment to the battlecruiser HMS Indomitable in the Home Fleet.

Power served as a gunnery officer throughout the First World War, initially in the battleship HMS Magnificent, then in the cruiser HMS Royal Arthur and next in the monitor HMS Raglan.

After the war Power joined the directing staff at HMS Excellent. he became an assistant to the Director in the Naval Ordnance Department at the Admiralty in January 1923 and, after attending the Royal Naval Staff College, he became Executive Officer on HMS Hood, flagship of the battlecruiser squadron in the Atlantic Fleet in 1925. he joined the Ordnance Committee at the Royal Arsenal. He went on to be commanding officer of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal in September 1937, and in that capacity, also became Flag Captain to the Flag Officer commanding aircraft carriers in the Home Fleet in July 1939.

Second World War

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/HMS_Ark_Royal_h85716.jpg" caption="2}} in the early months of the [[Second World War"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/SC180476.jpg" caption="The [[Allied invasion of Sicily]], for which Power conducted the planning"] ::

Power served in the Second World War as assistant chief of the Naval Staff from May 1940 and was granted promotion to rear admiral on 25 June 1940. he became commander of the 15th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in the cruiser in August 1942.

Appointed Flag Officer in charge of Malta in May 1943, he played a leading role in the planning for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and, having been promoted to vice admiral on 4 August 1943, he led the planning for the Allied invasion of Italy and then commanded the naval forces for the actual landing of V Corps at Taranto in September 1943. Following the landings, he became head of the Allied military mission to the Italian government and was briefly Commander of the 1st Battle Squadron and second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet.

Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1944, Power became commander of the 1st Battle Squadron and second in command of the Eastern Fleet with his flag in the battlecruiser in January 1944.

Later career

Power was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1946 and became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in February 1946. Promoted to full admiral on 6 May 1946, he proceeded to manage the run-down in naval manpower after the War. he became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in September 1950. and was double-hatted as NATO Allied Commander-in-Chief, Channel and Southern North Sea Command from 1952. and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 22 April 1952.

Power retired in September 1952 and became a Deputy Lieutenant of Southampton on 27 April 1953 shortly before attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. He died at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar on 28 January 1960.

Family

In 1918 Power married Amy Bingham; they had three sons (including Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Mackenzie Power). Following the death of his first wife in 1945, he married Margaret Joyce Watson in 1947.

Legacy

The Power Papers are housed at the British Library. The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.

References

Sources

References

  1. {{London Gazette. (19 May 1944)
  2. {{London Gazette. (27 October 1944)
  3. {{London Gazette. (18 December 1942)
  4. {{London Gazette. (25 January 1946)
  5. {{London Gazette. (15 March 1949)
  6. (2004). "Arthur Power".
  7. Heathcote, p. 218
  8. {{London Gazette. (10 September 1909)
  9. {{London Gazette. (14 October 1910)
  10. He became First Lieutenant in the [[destroyer]] [[HMS Nautilus (1910). HMS ''Nautilus'']] in October 1912 and then attended [[HMS Excellent (shore establishment)
  11. In the ''Raglan'' he saw action in the [[Gallipoli campaign. Dardanelles campaign]], before transferring to the battlecruiser [[HMS Princess Royal (1911). (19 April 1918)
  12. {{London Gazette. (13 August 1943)
  13. {{London Gazette. (31 December 1943)
  14. {{London Gazette. (28 December 1945)
  15. Heathcote, p. 220
  16. {{London Gazette. (18 June 1946)
  17. He went on to be [[Mediterranean Fleet. (30 December 1949)
  18. {{London Gazette. (13 June 1952)
  19. {{London Gazette. (1 May 1953)
  20. {{London Gazette. (17 November 1953)
  21. [http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS032-001961813 Power Papers], archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 2 June 2020

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